January 23, 2009
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The Tao of Steve.
Although his name and trademark scowl are featured prominently on the DVD artwork for director Richard Crudo's slushy 2009 action horror outing Against the Dark, former genre icon Steven Seagal, much to our dismay, isn't the film's central character. In fact, we only catch fleeting glimpses of our silent, sword-swinging hero during the first 45 minutes, leaving us to thoughtfully ponder the question, "If Seagal isn't kicking proverbial ass at every possible opportunity, why in the hell am I wasting my precious time with this obvious 28 Days Later wannabe when I could be watching Today You Die for the thirteenth time?" The answer, of course, is simple: The last half of the movie is literally jam packed with gory, hard-hitting action, most of which is delivered courtesy of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's surprisingly charismatic cousin, Tanoai Reed. Until then, I'm afraid, Crudo's blood-soaked endeavor is a plodding, boring mess stitched together with dated editing techniques, goofy mutants, and a pointless subplot involving Keith David and an impending, stock footage supported air strike. Had Seagal's character and his merry band of hunters been given a hint of depth and a lot more screen time, Against The Dark probably wouldn't have seemed so haplessly lopsided. It's not the train wreck others would have you believe, but it certainly could have been better. Next time, leave some room for the big guy. After all, he is the only reason we're watching this nonsense in the first place.
Recipe For Mediocrity: One Cliche Premise + A Stack Of Drab Characters + Not Enough Seagal
Am I Crazy: Or did the filmmakers misspell Seagal's first name during the end credits?
Perhaps their budget wasn't big enough to afford the V.
1 Spasms:
for steve the train clone of under seige was the beginning of the end as he just does not seem to realize he has nothing to offer a usable movie script except action, his (strongly) budhistic inclinations have apparently led him away from what we want (akshun) to message movies that seem to abhor it. he should be kept, by force, if necessary, away from a keyboard and director's chair, but there has been no stopping him from stopping him.
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